Getting Started

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things." – Peter Drucker

With the opportunity to manage and lead comes great responsibility. Managing and leading can be hard work, but a good plan and the right resources can make it easier. In this section you will find helpful tips to start putting together your personal leadership plan, and you will find resources to help you maximize your impact in your position.

Leaders and managers support Baylor University's mission by fostering a caring community through providing coaching, feedback, and seeking learning opportunities for their employees. Through these core actions, employees are better equipped to succeed in their personal and professional lives.

Introduction to Management

Every manager must perform several key elements well to be an effective leader. Successful managers must be able to select and hire new employees, set a vision and direction for the team, set expectations and hold people accountability, develop employees, and ensure individuals and the team are producing results.

At the heart of all this is the ability to coach and provide feedback. Coaching is actively developing others by asking questions and providing guidance that shifts perspectives, explores different approach, and shares key learning. Feedback helps others know what they are doing well and how they can do even better. Positive feedback reinforces actions, while developmental feedback guides toward a more effective approach. Both coaching and feedback require sometimes having difficult conversations to share shortcomings and reinforce expectations.

This is no small task and if you are a new manager, it is likely some or all of these skills may be new to you. Leadership is a distinct skillset and Baylor provides many resource to jumpstart and your success as a manager, from the leadership focused courses in Ignite to access to e-learning and videos in LinkedIn Learning and RightNow Media @ Work.

What All Managers Should Know

It’s every manager’s responsibility to understand the expectations, laws, and policies that guide leadership and support employees at Baylor.

Commitments

Those who manage and lead staff are expected to apply the principles outlined in Baylor's Leadership Commitments and Core Commitments. As stewards of the Baylor mission, our Core Commitments were developed to ensure these values are maintained at the core of who we are, how we work, and what we aspire to model to the students whom we are called to serve. For all those managing staff, the Leadership Commitments reflect the dedication to uphold the University’s standards of excellence, further the development of our employees, and enhance the ways in which we build our caring community.

Laws & Policies

Baylor’s polices and the related employment laws are designed to create a safe and fair work environment, free of discrimination and harassment, with clear processes for raising concerns, and also provide employees with the ability to take care of family members. Please take the time to become familiar with all of these policies as they directly relate to leading and supporting your employees.

Performance Management

For Staff

Performance management is a year-round process of setting expectations and goals, providing coaching and feedback, and developing employee skills that culminates each spring in a formal process to document this ongoing interaction.

For Faculty

Faculty Evaluation methods vary depending on the type of faculty and tenure. Academic Leaders should refer to the Faculty Handbook and coordinate with the Provost's Office. In addition, the Provost's In addition, the Provost's Administrative Resources webpage provides a library of documents and links to get started.

Faith and Leadership

Baylor's unique mission provides managers and leaders the opportunity to integrate faith in every aspect of their work. We enthusiastically embrace the spiritual component of leadership, as we guide, develop, and care for those God has entrusted us to manage and lead.